Not quite true. It just grueling to find this lovely town andcheck out5 hotels before wefound The Antik Hotel.

And this picture was the reason we wanted a “walkable” hotel.The best part of Ljubljanais the pedestrian center.Having checked out 5 hotels nearby, 2 of which were fully booked, and the other 3 were the “empty lobby” signal for future mobs off- the- bus(no offense meant) , we were lucky to spot the Antik Hotel.

This is an evening picture of the hotel, which I think, projects its warm and friendly character.

We got the last room and it had a glassed in balconyoverlooking a marvelouspatio and courtyard.

Since we hoped to stay a few days, I elegantly tippedour concierge and said “That’s for findingus a room for tomorrow night too.” He smiled“I’ll let you know at breakfast.”And he did!

We walked tothe “Triple Bridge” which was the pedestrian heart of this town.

Designed by the architect JozéPlecnik (1872-1957)(and, like Gaudi in Spain , an unrecognized genius), he went on to design parks and rearranged squares, converting a provincial backwater into the gorgeous Capital of a newly emergedindependent nation. Consequently, to us, the meeting of these rivers was the focal point.

And this was the reason we continued to search for a hotel nearby.Now lunch.

Look at the very top of the picture and you can see the Castle buried in greenery and overseeing the town.Being Americans, we decided to walk up the mountain. It was a zigzag dirt pathway,hot, buggy, but on the plus side, we only lost the trail once.

In the 12th century, the Spanheim Corinthian Dukes built this stone fortress to remind the village below who was “boss”. Rebuilt after the 1511 earthquake ,the Castle slid to rock bottom by becoming a prison and almshouse by the 20th century.Now in the 21stcentury, the Castle has been converted to a lovely Cultural center. We viewed parts of it from the 12th to the 21st century.

Weary, we took the funicular down to the city.You can see that all of us stood at the front of the cage, overlooking the city….until it started.Itdescended…..just as it looks….and all of us vied for a back corner!

Later we saw some Roman ruins.There were no signs about the structures (as if we could read them anyway) but I did discover that the Romans had been here for over 500 years.

When Rome collapsed,the troops withdrew in AD 395. It’s amazing that these artifacts remained for 2000 plus years with the invasions of over 100of other countries, cultures and religions. From the history it seems the invasions began when the Romans built some fantastic roads, developedvineyards and produced wine, and best of all, built housing with heated floors!

We had hoped to dine at Spajza’s Restaurant that eve but the gracious maître’Dsaid that they were scheduled for a conference.Thanking him we turned to go but he said “Wait—we have an outside courtyard if you would like.”He brought out candles and lap blankets.In the picturewe were seated in the back left corner under an umbrella. Our only companion was a big, black, furry dog who sat nearby. He only rose when I waved a chunk of lamb and was very delicate with his enormous teeth.Mike and the waiter conversedusing the International language of wine about our bottle.

A most enjoyablemeal.

Heading back to our hotel by ‘3 Rivers’

I think this pic shows the convivialityof the people in this Capital of Ljubljana, much of which emerged in obtaining their freedom in 1991.

The “Dragon” statue was named by the people of Ljubljana. This disappointed the governor who spent the money for the bridge. But the name is very apt for the courage of the populous. DRAGON.

(Our concierge was very interested in what we saw and felt. On our last evening he offered another day at one half of the price.)

Serendipity!

02/12/15

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About carolinebotwin

Caroline Botwin and her husband Mike are retired educators who have
always had a yen for travelling: he with a PH.D and teaching Architectural
Engineering plus California wine education, and she having taught high
school English, speech and drama.
Both wanted to learn first hand about other cultures.
While Mike predominately studied buildings and structures and met with
winemakers, Caroline hunted for ancient sites and peoples. And kept journals of all their travels.
Kevin Klimczak, extraordinaire, is the website designer and editor of the blogs.